§ 4 — State soil and water conservation committee

§ 4. State soil and water conservation committee. (1) There is\nestablished in the department of agriculture and markets, the state soil\nand water conservation committee as an agency of this state which\ncommittee shall exercise the functions conferred upon it in this\nchapter. The administrative functions of such department under the\nagriculture and markets law shall not operate or be applied in\nderogation of the powers of the committee, or of the free exercise\nthereof, as conferred by this chapter. The following shall serve as\nmembers of the committee: five interested and qualified citizens to be\nappointed by the governor, one of whom shall be appointed from a list of\nnominees submitted by the state grange, one of whom shall be appointed\nfrom a list of nominees submitted by the state farm bureau federation,\none of whom shall be appointed from a list of nominees submitted by the\nNew York Soil Conservation Districts Association, Inc., one of whom\nshall be appointed at large, who shall represent the farm interest, and\na fifth member appointed at large who shall represent the urban,\nsuburban and rural non-farm landowner interest; the director of the\nstate agricultural extension service, or his or her designated\nrepresentative; the dean of the state college of agriculture and life\nsciences, or his or her designated representative; the president of the\ncollege of environmental science and forestry of the state university of\nNew York, or his or her designated representative; the commissioner of\nenvironmental conservation, or his or her designated representative; the\ncommissioner of agriculture and markets, or his or her designated\nrepresentative; the commissioner of health, or his or her designated\nrepresentative; the secretary of state, or his or her representative; a\nrepresentative of the New York State Conservation District Employees'\nAssociation; and the state conservationist of the soil conservation\nservice of the United States department of agriculture, or his\ndesignated representative. The five lay members shall be the voting\nmembers. The balance of the committee will serve in an advisory or\nconsulting capacity. The committee shall keep a record of its official\nactions, and may perform such acts, and promulgate such rules and\nregulations as may be necessary for the execution of its functions under\nthis chapter. After April twenty-third, nineteen hundred sixty-four, the\nfirst appointment of the member chosen from a list submitted by the New\nYork soil and water conservation districts association shall be made of\na successor to the member representing the state grange whose term first\nexpires, and the first appointment of the member representing non-farm\ninterests shall be made of a successor to the member representing the\nNew York farm bureau whose term first expires.\n (2) The committee may call upon the attorney-general of the state for\nsuch legal services as it may require. It shall have authority to\ndelegate to its chairman, to one or more of its members, or to one or\nmore agents or employees such powers and duties as it may deem proper.\nUpon request of the committee for the purpose of carrying out any of its\nfunctions, the supervising officer of any state agency, or of any state\ninstitution of learning shall, insofar as may be possible under\navailable appropriations, and having due regard to the needs of the\nagency to which the request is directed, assign or detail to the\ncommittee members of the staff or personnel of such agency or\ninstitution of learning, and make such special reports, surveys or\nstudies as the committee may request.\n (3) The committee shall designate its chairman and may from time to\ntime change such designation. The lay members shall be appointed for a\nperiod of five years, except that the first five appointed shall be\ndesignated to serve terms of one, two, three, four and five years\nrespectively, the terms of office to correspond to the state's fiscal\nyear. Committee members shall hold office until their successors have\nbeen appointed and have qualified. The selection of successors to fill a\nvacancy shall be made in the same manner in which the retiring committee\nmembers shall have been selected. A majority of the committee shall\nconstitute a quorum and the concurrence of a majority in any matter\nwithin their duties shall be required for its determination. The members\nshall not receive a salary or other compensation, but shall be entitled\nto their actual and necessary expenses, including traveling expenses\nincurred in the discharge of their duties. The committee shall provide\nfor the keeping of a full and accurate record of all proceedings and of\nall resolutions, regulations, and orders issued or adopted; and shall\nprovide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts and\ndisbursements.\n (4) In addition to the duties and powers hereinafter conferred upon\nthe state soil and water conservation committee, it shall have the\nfollowing duties and powers:\n a. To adopt such policies in the carrying out of district programs as\nit deems appropriate;\n b. To keep the directors of each of the several districts organized\nunder the provisions of this act informed of the activities and\nexperience of all other districts organized hereunder, and to facilitate\nan interchange of advice and experience between such districts and\ncooperation between them;\n c. To approve and coordinate the programs of the several soil and\nwater conservation districts organized hereunder;\n d. To secure the cooperation and assistance of the United States and\nany of its agencies, and of agencies of this state, in the work of such\ndistricts;\n e. To disseminate information throughout the state concerning the\nactivities and programs of the soil and water conservation districts\norganized hereunder, and to encourage the formation of such districts in\nareas where their organization is desirable;\n f. To accept contributions from any source to carry on work under the\nprovisions of this chapter;\n g. To develop and maintain principles and standards for, and\nprocedures for participating in, the agricultural environmental\nmanagement (AEM) program in partnership with the department of\nenvironmental conservation, as set forth in article eleven-A of the\nagriculture and markets law;\n h. To develop evaluation criteria, collect, maintain and analyze\ninformation to assess the AEM program for effectiveness in meeting state\nand federal environmental and public health goals;\n i. To coordinate and approve the participation of the several\ndistricts in the AEM program as set forth in article eleven-A of the\nagriculture and markets law;\n j. To coordinate and approve the participation of the several\ndistricts in support of soil health and climate resilient farming as set\nforth in article eleven-B of the agriculture and markets law.\n